A New Type of Cunnings
by Softballchick dreaowa
Summary: When a friend from Siruis' past joins the order, what happens? Especially after Siruis returns from the veil. And why is Snape involved?
1. Chapter 1

A New Type of Cunning 

_Enjoy and at the end press the little review button. It will make my week! _

_Disclaimer: I own only Elizabeth Cunnigns and the rest belongs to the one the only J.K. Rowling._

_Headmistress McGonagall,_

_My name is Elizabeth Cunnings. I have heard about the legendary school of Hogwarts, which is underneath you guidance, and wish to ask you a few questions. I can assure, you I work for the light and would like to ask your permission about something. These questions should not be asked via owl because of the interception risk. I can meet you wherever and whenever is convenient for you._

_Please consider it,_

Miss Elizabeth Cunnings 

_Dear Miss Cunnings,_

_This Saturday twelve-noon at my office in Hogwarts. The wards up around Hogwarts will prevent any people with evil intent from entering. Take this as a warning if you intend to be of any harm._

Minerva McGonagall 

_Headmistress._

_That Saturday, Elizabeth Cunnings walked briskly through the snow covered grounds of Hogwarts. She carried nothing, and her eyes displayed an internal battle of determination and fear._

_As she approached the Head's office, Her face grew steadily more nervous. The little emotion that trickled across her face was gone, replaced by an unreadable face. She knocked on the door exactly as the clock inside the office struck twelve._

"_Come in," the headmistress replied as she sat behind an old desk in the center of the office. "Miss Cunnings, I presume."_

"_Yes, M'am." Elizabeth shook the older witch's hand. "Thank you for seeing me today."_

"_My time is limited, so I suggest you start."_

"_My, first question, is actually more of a request. I should like to join the Order of the Phoenix."_

"_How do **you** know of the Order?" McGonnagall responded tensely. _

"My cousin, Mrs. Longbottom told me about it when I stayed at her house for a week. I don't believe her son or her mother knows that she and her husband were in the order. She told my mother and me. We were the only ones she could confide in."

"_I will think about it," McGonagall replied still in shook._

"_Thank you m'am."_

"_And lastly, do you happen to know where Sirius Black is?"_

"_I'm afraid he died almost a year and a half ago."_

"_Oh." Her face dropped, "I had no idea. I searched all the papers, there was nothing." _

"_His death was an accident. It wasn't supposed to leak out."_

"_I best be going. Thank you for your time," She tried to avoid the questioning gaze of the headmistress._

"_Why would you want to know where he was?"_

"_I'm an old friend of his," She replied shortly._

"_You did not attend Hogwarts, you were not in the order. How exactly did you know him?" McGonagall questioned, her suspicions passing each passing moment. Elizabeth turned and faced the door trying to hide the pain and shame displayed there._

"_While he was in Azkaban, I had been held in the cell across the way. We became friends. It was I that also distracted the guards while he was escaping. "_

_The Headmistress was very edgy and holding her wand very tightly. "Not possible, no one can make friends with dementors around."_

"_I taught him occumacy. The dementors can not take away what they can not find."_

"_Am I correct in assuming you are a legimins too?"_

"_Yes, m'am."_

"_Why were you in Azkaban?"_

_Elizabeth summand a copy of The Daily Prophet. She handed it over. The top read July 15, 1978._

_It read that Elizabeth Cunnings was given fifteen years in Azkaban because she murdered her father. _

"_Six death eaters attacked my house, and murdered my father. They gave me a choic; go with them and hid from the ministry, or face the consequences of murdering my father. So I chose… I chose… I-" Her voice started to shake, "Thanks again, good bye." And with a swish of her cloak she was gone._

McGonagall recounted the story to the order.

"A little peculiar, isn't it? She shows up not a week after we figure out Sirius can be removed from the veil." Lupin commented.

"Yes, but she was right about the newspapers," Tonks added, "There was nothing in any of the papers about Sirius."

"Severus, Hermione, are you two absolutely sure the potion will work to get Sirius back from the veil?" Lupin questioned.

"Yes," Hermione replied quickly and slightly annoyed.

"We have already been over this Lupin! It will work, what's your point?" Snape barked.

**"Miss Cunnings seems attached to Sirius, the only reason she might want to get in to the Order is that she has a little plan for Sirius for You-know-who."**

**"No, if she worked for the dark then she would have know not to ask about Sirius." Mrs. Wesealy **commented

"A trial mission," Tonks suggested, "To see if she is credible."

"We can't risk a mission on a new recruit. we should have her help out around here." Mrs. Wesealy stated.

"I agree with Molly, I'll contact her and have her come here immediately." McGonagall remarked before flooing back to Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello all!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but Elizabeth

Thanks so much for reading, please please review

Softballchick Dreaowa

* * *

After receiving a very long letter from the headmistress, Elizabeth flooed into a musty, old library.

"Hello," she looked around, '_anybody here?'_ "Is there a Mrs. Weasely here?"

"Yea, she is downstairs in the kitchen. You must be Elizabeth Cunnings." Lupin greeted the middle-aged woman with long wavy brown hair. "I'm Remus Lupin, pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Lupin." She shook his outstretched hand.

"Mr. Lupin," She blushed and looked at her shoes, "You have lipstick on your face." She pointed at the corner of his mouth and ducked out of the room, but not quick enough to see the man blush a violent red.

She found the kitchen and watched a red-haired woman order two red-haired boys around.

"Can it be? Molly Princeton?" Elizabeth tapped Molly on the shoulder.

"By golly, it is my old friend," Mrs. Weasely spun around facing her former neighbor. "I thought it wouldn't be you, but it is!"

"Molly since when are you married?"

"Since twenty years ago."

"Wow, I never realized how much I missed you."

"'Spose I never made an effort to contact you, huh?"

The old friends gave each other a bone-crushing hug.

"Ummm, Mum can I go now or do George and I have to listen to this for the rest of the afternoon?" Fred Weasely asked.

"You had twins Molly! Oh, and they have your red hair!"

"Fred, George, this is one of my old friends from before Hogwarts, Elizabeth Cunnings." Molly gestured to the boys. "Oh I'll have to introduce you to the rest later."

"More Molly? How many more?"

"Later, dear later, now I'll show you your room." Molly ushered Elizabeth upstairs.

"Before you are a real order member, you must be deemed trust worthy."

Elizabeth nodded.

"You must remove two things from the walls, the portrait of Mrs. Black in the parlor and a tapestry in the library."

"Alright," Elizabeth said trying mot to laugh at such an odd request.

"Dinner is in a half hour. I'll leave you to get settled in. My apologizes," Molly gestured around the room, "the rooms are rather bare. Make any alterations you wish."

"Thanks, somehow I imagined headquarters different."

"I know this is such a small world. Beth."

Dinner…

"Everyone hush up! Thank you. Now as most of you know, we might be taking on a new member. Meet Miss Elizabeth Cunnings!" Molly grabbed Elizabeth's elbow and pulled her until she was standing.

"Hello, Everybody. Nice to meet all of you."

"Hello Lizzie!" An overexcited Tonks smiled. "I'm Tonks. If you need anything just ask."

"Tonks it is."

"Wise choice." Lupin pretended to cough.

"Hello again, Mr. Lupin." A soft snicker was heard from the children's' side of the table. Elizabeth gave them a hard glare accompanied with an evil smile.

"Molly, can I assume that these are your children?"

"Yes, though sometimes I wish they weren't," Now shooting a 'be polite' glare at the far end of the table.

"I'm Ron." Ron introduced taking the hint.

"I'm Ginny, this is Harry Potter and Hermione Granger," Ginny said, and as an after thought, "They're family friends."

"Hello." Elizabeth turned to Molly.

"That gentleman," more snickers from the supposed young adults, "Is Severus Snape." Molly pointed to a man wearing all black sitting furthest away.

Elizabeth responded with a curt nod, "Molly, you will have to excuse me. Travel by floo always seems to diminish my appetite."

"Of course, I hope you are feeling better."

Elizabeth left the room and walked to the portrait of Mrs. Black. She spoke through the curtain, "Mrs. Black, how are you?"

"Who is there? Surely you are not one of the mudbloods my stupid son allowed in this prestigious house."

"No, I am not. My name is Elizabeth Cunnings." She gently removed the curtain.

"Ah, what a relief, a pureblood. Tell me, how is your mother haven't heard of her in a while?"

"She is dead and buried along side my father."

"Terrible, terrible. Such a prestigious woman."

"Yes, she was quite the busybody."

"She was. So tell me, I have not heard your name among any portraits, what have you been up to?" Mrs. Black asked prepared to gossip.

"Spending time, with my father as he lived out his last days. Can I trust you with a secret Mrs. Black?"

"Of course my dear. Come close, we wouldn't want any body else to hear." Mrs. Black motioned for her to draw nearer to the frame.

"When he was near the end, father couldn't even remember how to levitate feathers! It was such a sad sight." Elizabeth faked hanging her head in shame.

"There, there darling, I'm sure that won't happen to you."

"May I come and talk to you tomorrow Mrs. Black? You have been such a comfort."

"Of course, I have plenty of time, after all I am a portrait." Mrs. Black at her new source of gossip. Little did Mrs. Black know of the true intent.

"Tomorrow may we talk about your family?" Elizabeth questioned, "I noticed a tapestry of your family history on one of the walls in the library, I could bring it."

"That would be fun," Mrs. Black mused "It is stuck on the wall with a charm to get it off say, 'the only ones worthy of the name Black are dead."

"Tomorrow then."

"Good bye," Mrs. Black called after the curtain had closed.

Elizabeth strode quickly up to the library.

"The only ones worthy of the name Black are dead." She whispered to the tapestry. Suddenly her hands were filled with of a large cloth with many centuries of names posted on it.

Elizabeth bounced down to the kitchen where she met Molly, cleaning up from diner.

"Ta-daa!"

"Beth! How did you manage to get this thing off the wall?"

"Even though she is dead, Mrs. Black still holds a lot to the secrets of this old house." Molly blinked, wondering why no one had consulted Mrs. Black before. "Goodnight Molly, I do believe I will be up for breakfast tomorrow. See you in the morning." With that she turned sharp on her heel and left for her bedroom.

* * *

Later that night….

"What do you think of Cunnings?" Harry asked Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, and Hermione.

"She is too shady. I saw her talking very quietly with Mrs. Black when we left dinner," Hermione stated.

"Shady or not, she is hot!" Ron remarked.

"We second and third that motion," Fred and George raised their hands.

"The lot of you are so shallow!" Ginny exclaimed while sitting down on her boyfriend's lap. "She is only five years younger than mum. How gross!"

"She can't be too shady. Mrs.Wesealy was friends with her." Harry pondered from under Ginny.

"I'm still not convinced."

* * *

In the library….

"Remus, what do you think of Lizzie?" Tonks asked flipping through a book.

"I still can't figure out how she got that blasted tapestry down already."

"She is so bright. Not just book smart, you know she's got a lot of sense."

After a minute or so of silence Tonks concluded, "She rather reminds me of Snape."

"How so?"

"She likes her privacy and did you see that glare she sent at Harry and the gang during dinner."

"And," Lupin included, "She is a finicky eater."

* * *

Thanks so much for reading !

please review!

You know you want to deep down inside somewhere!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Please note- I do not own Harry Potter, just Elizabeth Cunnings

Also, Please review (I love my darlingest Katie for butchering this chapter)

Sorry por el delay in getting this out. No excuses just apologies.

* * *

Breakfast….

"Kindly pass the jam George," Elizabeth requested taking two slices of toast from the table.

"Sure," George responded; then under his breath, "anything for you sweet thing."

Elizabeth spun around a fire burning in her eyes, "Mr. Weasley, you will remain from such comments in the presence of ladies." She gestured to Tonks, Ginny, and Hermione seated to her right.

"I won't take it back," George said stubbornly with a smug expression on his face.

"Let us ensure you won't forget what I have said," She swished her wand and a needle and thread started stitching his lips closed.

"That will certainly quite things down a bit." Snape said as he entered the kitchen.

Upon the arrival of the teacher all the kids filed out of the room.

"How did you obtain the password?" Snape asked.

""I find persuasion of the tongue is stronger than the intent of the mind." Elizabeth answered, "Especially with old gossipers, let them have their fun and suddenly you're their best friend."

"How do you intend on talking Mrs. Black off the wall?"

"My tongue does the persuading, Professor Snape. My mind need not think about it in advance." She left the kitchen and headed towards the portrait.

"How are we this morning Mrs. Black?" Elizabeth greeted as she opened the curtain.

"Fine, just fine. Where is the tapestry?"

"I took it off the wall yesterday. The others insisted that they have it. I tried to no avail. I'm sorry." Elizabeth shook her head.

"You should see what they've done with your home, Mrs. Black. Such a shame."

"What've they done?" Mrs. Black perked up, very alarmed, "What have they done to my beautiful manor?"

"All the walls are striped and the valuables gone. I wouldn't be surprised if they were using them for personal gain."

"All my heirlooms gone!? What is left? You must let me see what is left!" Mrs. Black cried in desperation.

Elizabeth pretended to contemplate this, "Alright, I will take you."

"Release this marvelous portrait from the wall." Mrs. Black spoke the password and the portrait fell from the wall.

"Molly!" Elizabeth shouted as she vanished the portrait, "do you need help with anything?"

"Beth? Today I was hoping you might start with the portrait of Mrs. Black," Molly came into the parlor. "Good Heavens Beth! Several aurors tried to remove that portrait for months, to no avail. We give you two days and you have it down with time to spare."

"Umm.. well.. thanks," she replied modestly.

"It wasn't really fair. We all expected you to fail. With such a quick success, I'm willing to bet that you will be in the Order by the end of the week." Elizabeth tried to hide her pleasure.

Molly then added, "Oh, and could you help Severus today? I think he and Hermione could use a break from each other. While you're at it, send Hermione to the kitchen, I could use some assistance."

"Where are they?"

"In the second room on the left. Thanks Dearie." Mrs. Weasley left humming "Oh What a Beautiful Morning."

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Upon entering the second room on the left, as directed, Elizabeth knocked, "Professor Snape, Miss Granger? Sorry to bother you but Molly is in need of Miss Granger in the kitchen.

Hermione bolted so fast Elizabeth had done a double take to make sure she was gone.

"Are you going to stand there? I have work to do," he trailed off motioning to the door

"I've been asked to fill in where your assistant left off." She walked into the room.

"I am in no need of an assistant." Snape walked away from the mixture to chop up and herb.

"Don't even try that. You would not be working with Miss Granger unless it was absolutely necessary." Elizabeth walked over to the potion exanimation it. "You are making Lista Mauvre or trying to bring back the dead."

Snape's head shot up from his ingredients, not many people had that much common knowledge of potions. "The dead cannot be brought back surely you know that."

"I do, I just thought that a potion's master, who studied under Gregory Antony, would need any help making a simple liver-restoring potion."

"How did you know that?" He asked trying and failing to sound casual. "Not even my father knew that I apprenticed under him."

"Master Antony took two apprentices at that time. Was it not somewhat suspicious that you could only use his lab on certain days?"

"The potion is going to try to bring back a man who fell into the land of the dead, but is still living." Snape stated feeling defeated.

"I see." She looked over the multiple lists of ingredients, instructions, and notes.

"Who will go in after him?" She asked reading more of Hermione's notes.

"That is not for me to decide."

* * *

About an hour later….

Hermione walked back into the potions lab to see the two adults working harmoniously. It was as if they were speaking a language of their own. Neither one spoke, but still worked perfectly.

One would chop the ingredients then handed it off to the other, who would put it in the potion at exactly the right moment. She continued to stare in awe for another minute or so, before Snape spoke.

"Miss Granger, is there something you find interesting?" Snape asked annoyed with the young Gryffindor.

"I'm sorry sir. Its just you two work so.. so.. nevermind." Hermione stuttered.

"Miss Granger, I will no longer be requiring your assistance on the potion." Snape remarked coldly.

"Yes sir," She replied tearfully and ran out of the room. Neither adult seemed to care and conclusively continued on.

"Thank you Professor Snape," Elizabeth smiled. "I have needed something to do. Potions just happens to be the best pastime in the world."

Snape looked at her strangely and focused back on the potion.

* * *

"Tonks, will you get Beth and Severus for dinner? They haven't come out of that lab all day!" Mrs. Weasley asked politely.

"Lizzie? Professor Snape? You are being summoned for dinner." Tonks yelled as she knocked on the door.

"You can eat. I'm going to stay this is the most crucial stage of the potion," Snape mumbled.

"All righty then," Elizabeth said.

"Lizzie, Where is el bato?" Tonks joked.

"He has to watch the potion, so the acidity of the ginger root doesn't react with the chemical properties of the fairy wings."

"By react do you mean explode?"

Elizabeth turned to look at Tonks, "yes." As they entered the kitchen Beth said, "Molly, I hate to eat and run, so I'm going to run and eat."

Molly gave her a strange look and watched as she prepared to plates. "I was hoping that you would be able to eat with us Beth, but the potion is more important than diner."

"Mum, How come she can eat in the lab, but Hermione can't eat in her bedroom?" Ginny asked as Hermione gave Elizabeth an unusual glare.

Molly eyes were sharp towards her daughter, "Because Beth isn't wallowing about making sacrifices for the good of the order."

Hermione looked purely shocked.

"Well, Molly looks delicious." Elizabeth smiled trying to avoid the remainder of the tense moment. She walked to the lab and extended a plate to Snape.

"Eat up; you wouldn't want to run low on energy." Elizabeth explained.

He lifted an eyebrow but took the plate anyways. "Have you not seen tacos before?" She asked.

Snape did not respond.

After she was done eating, she put the Humplecraked mushroom into the potion while Snape continued eating.

"Thank you," Snape swallowed his last bite and vanished their plates. "I'm not used to people going out of their way to help me."

"Your welcome, but the kitchen was not really out of my way."

Snape turned away but Elizabeth could still see the blush of his cheeks.

"Who is this potion meant to rescue anyway?" She cleaned the crumbs off the table.

Snape barely hesitated, "Black, Sirius Black."


End file.
